Language politics in the new global era presents policymakers with significant ethical challenges. How should the reality of English as a global language influence the normative considerations ...underpinning national language policies? What moral arguments justify the imposition of national languages in an era of increased immigration and ethnolinguistic diversity? What role is there for non-dominant varieties in a globalised world? Building on the emerging notion of 'normative language policy', this book proposes an integrated framework for the study of such questions, combining recent normative work on language in political theory and philosophy with empirically-derived insight from the fields of sociolinguistics and applied linguistics. The case of Quebec forms the backdrop of the study, providing a particularly illuminating setting for investigating the common moral challenges that face contemporary polities seeking to maintain distinct linguistic identities, in an irreducibly diverse world increasingly dominated by English as a global lingua franca.
Warrongo is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language that used to be spoken in northeast Australia. This volume is largely based on the rich data recorded from the last fluent speaker. It details ...the phonology, morphology and syntax of the language. In particular, it provides a truly scrutinizing description of syntactic ergativity - a phenomenon that is rare among the world's language. It also shows that, unlike some other Australian languages, Warrongo has noun phrases that are configurational. Overall this volume shows what can be documented of a language that has only one speaker. Tasaku Tsunoda, National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics, Tokyo, Japan.
The Gamilaraay language declined in use for many years after the colonisation of Australia. From around 1990, Gamilaraay people and others have been working to revive the language. This book draws on ...recent research into previous records and analyses of Gamilaraay and of the closely related, and better recorded, Yuwaalaraay. It provides an introduction to many aspects of the language including verbs, the case system and the extensive pronoun paradigm, in a format that students have found very helpful for the last 12 years.
China, with the world's largest population, numerous ethnic groups, and vast geographical space, is also rich in languages. Since 2006, China's State Language Commission has been publishing annual ...reports on "language life" in China. These reports cover language policy and planning, new trends in language use, and major events concerning languages in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Now these reports are available in English.
The UNESCO atlas on endangered languages recognizes the Ryukyuan languages as constituting languages in their own right. This represents a dramatic shift in the ontology of Japan's linguistic ...make-up. Ryukyuan linguistics needs to be established as an independent field of study with its own research agenda and objects. This handbook delineates that the UNESCO classification is now well established and adequate. Linguists working on the Ryukyuan languages are well advised to refute the ontological status of the Ryukyuan languages as dialects. The Ryukyuan languages constitute a branch of the Japonic language family, which consists of five unroofed Abstand (language by distance) languages.The Handbook of Ryukyuan Languages provides for the most appropriate and up-to-date answers pertaining to Ryukyuan language structures and use, and the ways in which these languages relate to Ryukyuan society and history. It comprises 33 chapters, written by the leading experts of Ryukyuan languages. Each chapter delineates the boundaries and the research history of the field it addresses, comprises the most important and representative information.
Covering core topics from vocabulary and grammar to teaching, writing speaking and listening, this textbook shows you how to link research to practice in TESOL methodology. It emphasises how current ...understandings have impacted on the language classroom worldwide and investigates the meaning of 'methods' and 'methodology' and the importance of these for the teacher: as well as the underlying assumptions and beliefs teachers bring to bear in their practice. By introducing you to language teaching approaches, you will explore the way these are influenced by developments in our understanding of language, learning technologies, learners, and their socio-cultural world. Three main areas in TESOL methods are covered: the impact of learner needs, context and culture on language, learning and teaching approaches; knowledge of language and its impact on methods, from the word to whole texts; and multiple literacies and competences for the modern world, including academic literacy and web literacy, socio-cultural and intercultural competence. The impact on teacher choices and methods of World Englishes, approaches to grammar, and learner development is also discussed. Each chapter illustrates core principles in practice using case studies of English teaching worldwide. Guided tasks, including article critique, case study analysis, and small-scale classroom research, prepare you to engage critically with research literature and use this analysis to inform your own practice.
Language teachers’ competencies in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) are a crucial factor affecting their own implementation of CALL. However, there is still a concern that many language ...teachers are not adequately prepared to make effective use of CALL or to identify and evaluate potential CALL solutions. This can be the result of many different factors and raises the question of how to train teachers to develop their CALL knowledge and skills to a greater degree. The discussion of approaches to training language teachers in the use of technology adopted in areas of Australia, the UK and the US provides valuable insights for those already involved in this area, and inspiration for those who have some interest in carrying out this kind of training, but as yet have little or no experience. This book explores the current status of CALL teacher education and discusses issues and challenges CALL teacher educators face in their own contexts. Specifically, it looks at postgraduate CALL courses offered at different universities to find ways of improving CALL teacher training. It represents the first overview of a topic that is relevant to most postgraduate courses in Applied Linguistics or TESOL across the globe. The use of technology for language learning and teaching is increasingly common but, as is so often the case, training for teachers in how to use that technology remains limited, to a large extent by lack of expertise among trainers.
PDF
